Retractable corner support

ABSTRACT

An improved retractable self-contained corner support assembly for vehicle-carried containers, characterized by the provision of a rigid hollow rectangular frame in which the pedestal member is pivotally mounted. The frame is adapted for securement in a corresponding opening in the horizontal platform of the vehicle and includes internal ledge means for supporting the free end of the transverse pedestal wall when the pedestal is pivoted downwardly to the retracted position. Internal rib means are provided on the frame for additional pedestal support when in the extended position, and internal thrust bearing shoulder means serve to prevent the application of longitudinal thrust to the pivot shaft.

United States Patent [72] Inventors Edwin B. Connerat 6122 Woodmont Road, Alexandria, 22307; Stephen G. Peterson, 6038 Westwood Terrace, Norfolk, Va. 23508 {21] Appl. No. 734,161 [22] Filed June 3, 1968 [45] Patented Jan. 19,1971

[54] RETRACTABLE CORNER SUPPORT 2 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl. 248/119 [51] lnt. Cl B60p 7/08 [50] Field of Search 248/119,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,210,038 10/1965 Baden et al.

3,321,162 5/1967 Connerat 3,437,055 4/1969 Willeetal Primary Examiner-Edward C. Allen Attorney-Scrivener, Parker, Scrivener and Clarke ABSTRACT: An improved retractable self-contained corner support assembly for vehicle-carried containers, characterized by the provision of a rigid hollow rectangular frame in which the pedestal member is pivotally mounted. The frame is adapted for securement in a corresponding opening in the horizontal platform of the vehicle and includes internal ledge means for supporting the free end of the transverse pedestal wall when the pedestal is pivoted downwardly to the retracted position.

lntemal rib means are provided on the frame for additional pedestal support when in the extended position, and internal thrust bearing shoulder means serve to prevent the application of longitudinal thrust to the pivot shaft.

PATENTED JAN] 9 MI SHEEI 1 [IF 2 INVENTORS EDWIN a. CONNERAT STEPHEN e. PETERSON ATTORNEYS I RETRACTABLE CORNER SUPPORT In my priorU.S. Pat. No. 3,321,162 issued May 23, 1967, a corner support arrangement is disclosed for'supporting the corners of a container that is adapted for transport by a railway flat car, trailer truck or similar vehicle. These prior support means have proven to be quite successful in practice, and accordingly it has been proposed to install the same on existing railway and motor vehicular-rolling stock. In order to simplify the installation and also to strengthen the construction for supporting greatly increased loads, it has been proposed, in accordance with the present invention, to provide an improved self-contained corner support assembly that may be secured as a unit within a corresponding opening formed in the horizontal platform of the vehicle. I i I Accordingly, the primary object of the present invention is to provide a container comer-supporting assembly including a hollow horizontal rectangular frame adapted for securement within a corresponding opening contained in a horizontal platform, and a pedestal member pivotally connected within said frame formovement between an extended vertical load-supporting position, and a retracted horizontal position in which the exposed surface of the pedestal is coplanar with the platform surface and substantially completely fills the frame opening. In accordance withan important feature of the invention, recessed ledge 'means are carried by one end of the frame remote from'the pivot shaft for supporting the free end of the pedestal when in the retracted position. According to another object of the invention, horizontal rib means are provided on the longitudinal sidewalls of the frame for engagement by external horizontal ribs on the pedestal to prevent the same from pivoting beyond the extendedvertical position, whereby much heavier loads may be supported by the assemblies.

A further object of'the invention is to provide thrust bearing shoulder means on. the inner surfaces of the sidewalls of the frame for engagement, whenthe pedestal is in the erected positin, with the flange means on the sides of the pedestal'to restrict longitudinal movement of the pedestal in the frame and thereby alleviate the application of longitudinal thrust to the pivot shaft, I j

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a study of the following specification when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which: i v I i r FIG. 1 is ,a perspective view of the corner support assembly when in the extended load-supporting position; i I e FIG. 2 is a perspective view, with certain parts broken away, illustrating the connection of the corner support assembly to the horizontal platform of a railway flat car, the pedestal being in the retracted position; I

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the rectangular frame within which the corner supporting housing is pivotally mounted;

' FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3; and FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the invention.

Referring to the drawings, the corner support assembly includes a rigid hollow rectangular frame 2 having a pair of parallel, spaced longitudinal wall portions 4, 6 between the ends of which are connected transverse wall portions 8, 10. Referring to FIG. 4, on the internal surfaces of longitudinal walls 4 and 6 and end wall 10 are provided horizontal internal flanges 4a, 6a and 100, respectively. The flange 10a is-provided with pressure pads 10b for thepurpose of absorbing impact and to restrict longitudinal movement. Furthermore, horizontal thrust-bearing shoulder means 11 are provided on longitudinal walls 4 and 6 beneath the flanges 4a, 6a. End wall 8 contains at its upper end a hand recess 9 as shown in FIG. 1.

At one end, the frame is provided with a transverse pivot shaft 12 the ends of which are supported'within bores 14 contained in the sidewalls 4 and 6. At the other end, the frame includes a ledge portion 16 connected between longitudinal wall 6 and transverse wall 8, the upper edge of said ledge being spaced downwardly from the horizontal plane containing the upper edges of the frame, as shown in FIG. 2. The frame is adapted to besecured (by weld seams 18, for example) within a corresponding opening contained in the platform 20 of a railway flat car or the like, the uppersurfaces of the frame and platform being coplanar. M

Mounted for pivotal movement within the frame 2 on pivot shaft 12 is a load-supporting pedestal 22 having in accordance with the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4, a pairof parallel vertical sidewalls 24, 26, a vertical rear wall 28 normal to and connected between the rear edges of the sidewalls, and a horizontal wall connected between the upper portions of the vertical pedestal walls. As shown in FIG. 1, the sidewall 24 and the rear wall 28 include at their upper ends portions 240 and 28a that extend upwardly beyond the fourth wall 30 and cooperate therewith to define three orthogonally arranged walls adapted to support one corresponding lower corner of a container. Retractable pin 32 is carried by lever 34 and is slidably and rotatably mounted in a bore contained in the upper portion of rear wall 28, said pin'being' insertable within a corresponding recess in the container. As shown in FIG. 2, when in the locked position, the lower and upper ends of lever' 34 are locked beneath external flanges 36and- 37, respectively,

whereby pin 32 is maintained in its illustrated load-engaging position.

As in my prior US. Pat. No. 3,321,162, the pedestal is maintained in the extended vertical load-supporting position by the cooperation between the fixed abutment 38 and axially retractable spring-biased lock bars 40-with the upper edges of the frame walls 10 and 4 and 6, respectively. Additional horizontal external flanges 22a are provided on the pedestal sidewalls for engagement with the lower surfaces of internal horizontal flanges 4a, 6a carried by the horizontal walls 4 and 1 6, thereby preventing pivotal movement of the pedestal beyond the illustrated extended position. 3

Upon axial retraction of the lock bars 40 by displacing together the release pins 42, the unloaded pedestal may be pivoted downwardly to the retracted position coplanar with the surface of platform 20 as illustrated in FIG.2 (and shown by the phantom lines in FIG. 1). When in the retracted position illustrated in FIG. 2, the pedestal is supported by the 'seating of the upper portion of third wall 28 upon the upper surface of ledge 16, the adjacent portion of sidewall 24 being received in the space between ledge 16 and the frame sidewail 4., It is important to note that the 'upper edge of ledge 16 is spaced beneath the upper edge of the frame a distance equal to the thickness of the third. wall 28, whereby when the pedestal is in the lowered retracted position, the exposed sur face of the pedestal third wall 28 is coplanar with both the upper surface of the frame 2 and the upper surface of the platform 20.

Referring now to the modification of FIG. 5, a pedestal 122 is pivotally supported in frame l02,by pivot shaft 112 for movement between extended and retracted positions relative to the frame as in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4. The pedestal includes a single central longitudinally extending wafl l 150, and a transverse rear wall 128. As in the embodiment of FIG. 1, when the pedestal is in the illustrated extended position, it is supported by the cooperation between lock bars and abutment 138 with the corresponding upper surfaces of the side and end walls of the frame. The lock bars 140 are.

I art that various changes may be made in the apparatus described without deviating from the invention set forth in the following claims.

We claim:

1. A support assembly for supporting at least one corner of container at a given elevation above the horizontal platform of a cargo-carrying vehicle, comprising:

a hollow rectangular frame (2, 102) including opposed vertical pairs of longitudinal side (4,6) and transverse end (8, wall portions each having the same height, said frame being adapted for coplanar mounting in a corresponding opening contained in said platform;

pedestal means (22, 122) pivotally connected with said frame for movement between extended vertical and retracted horizontal positions relative to said frame, respectively, said pedestal means including, when in the extended position, at least one vertical first wall (24, 150) parallel with the longitudinal wall portions of said frame. a vertical second wall (28, 128) normal to and connected with the rear vertical edge of said first wall, and a horizontal third load-supporting wall (30, 130) connected with and supported by the upper portions of said first and second walls, said pedestal means being so connected with said frame that when said pedestal means is in the retracted position, the exposed surface of the second pedestal wall is coplanar with the upper edges of the frame wall portions, said pedestal means including also means cooperating with said third wall to define three orthogonally arranged walls for supporting a lower corner of the container;

means for maintaining said pedestal means in the extended position relative to said frame, comprising releasable first means (40, 140) carried by said first pedestal wall for cooperation with the corresponding upper edge of the frame to prevent pivotal movement of the pedestal means in one direction toward the retracted position, and first i and second abutment means (22a, 38 and 122a, 138) carried by the external surfaces of said first and second pedestal walls, respectively, for cooperation with corresponding abutment surfaces on the frame for preventing pivotal movement of the pedestal means in the opposite direction beyond said extended position, said first abutment means including external flange means (22a, 122a) that are horizontal when the pedestal means is in the extended position;

thrust bearing shoulder means (11)carried by the internal surfaces of the longitudinal walls of said frame and arranged for engagement by the end zsurfaces of said external flange means that are remote from the pivot axis of said pedestal means, whereby when the pedestal is in the extended position, the pedestal is restricted against longitudinal movement of the pedestal in the frame, thereby alleviating the application of longitudinal thrust to the pivot shaft; and

horizontal ledge means (16, 116) secured across a corner portion of said frame for cooperation with one of said pedestal support portions (280, 128a) to support said pedestal when pivoted downwardly to the retracted position.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said first pedestal vertical wall is centrally arranged relative to said second vertical wall. 

1. A support assembly for supporting at least one corner of a container at a given elevation above the horizontal platform of a cargo-carrying vehicle, comprising: a hollow rectangular frame (2, 102) including opposed vertical pairs of longitudinal side (4,6) and transverse end (8, 10) wall portions each having the same height, said frame being adapted for coplanar mounting in a corresponding opening contained in said platform; pedestal means (22, 122) pivotally connected with said frame for movement between extended vertical and retracted horizontal positions relative to said frame, respectively, said pedestal means including, when in the extended position, at least one vertical first wall (24, 150) parallel with the longitudinal wall portions of said frame, a vertical second wall (28, 128) normal to and connected with the rear vertical edge of said first wall, and a horizontal third load-supporting wall (30, 130) connected with and supported by the upper portions of said first and second walls, said pedestal means being so connected with said frame that when said pedestal means is in the retracted position, the exposed surface of the second pedestal wall is coplanar with the upper edges of the frame wall portions, said pedestal means including also means cooperating with said third wall to define three orthogonally arranged walls for supporting a lower corner of the container; means for maintaining said pedestal means in the extended position relative to said frame, comprising releasable first means (40, 140) carried by said first pedestal wall for cooperation with the corresponding upper edge of the frame to prevent pivotal movement of the pedestal means in one direction toward the retracted position, and first and second abutment means (22a, 38 and 122a, 138) carried by the external surfaces of said first and second pedestal walls, respectively, for cooperation with corresponding abutment surfaces on the frame for preventing pivotal movement of the pedestal means in the opposite direction beyond said extended position, said first abutment means including external flange means (22a, 122a) that are horizontal when the pedestal means is in the extended position; thrust bearing shoulder means (11) carried by the internal surfaces of the longitudinal walls of said frame and arranged for engagement by the end surfaces of said external flange means that are remote from the pIvot axis of said pedestal means, whereby when the pedestal is in the extended position, the pedestal is restricted against longitudinal movement of the pedestal in the frame, thereby alleviating the application of longitudinal thrust to the pivot shaft; and horizontal ledge means (16, 116) secured across a corner portion of said frame for cooperation with one of said pedestal support portions (28a, 128a) to support said pedestal when pivoted downwardly to the retracted position.
 2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said first pedestal vertical wall is centrally arranged relative to said second vertical wall. 